


Saint

by Kuroeia (Empatheia)



Category: Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-19
Updated: 2007-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-08 15:38:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/444739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empatheia/pseuds/Kuroeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A necessary sacrifice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saint

"They come from all worlds," Rukia told her, "didn't you know?"

Orihime shook her head. She hadn't known. Her brows were drawn together in that way that made Rukia want to flick her forehead until she laughed or cried uncle, one or the other. "He looks so sad, Kuchiki-san. I wonder what he left behind."

Rukia shrugged. She saw faces like that every day. That was what it meant to be a shinigami, a bringer of death. "Don't worry about it, Orihime. You can't do anything for him anyway. They've all left something behind. Just get used to it."

Easier said than done, Rukia knew, but it was worth saying anyway.

Predictably, Orihime shook her head and took off down the hill towards the man with the dark eyes and darker hair and bent shoulders that spoke of great burdens.

Rukia learned that his name was Roy Mustang, and that he was from a land called Amestria where magic was science and magicians were soldiers, and that what he had left behind amounted to three people and an ambition which had meant more than his life to him.

It was not an uncommon story, but Orihime had not heard hundreds of them like Rukia had and so was brimming with tears by the end.

She wanted to save him, it was so obvious, but had no idea what to do.

"Orihime, it's sweet of you to want to help him, but there's really nothing you can do. It's up to him to make a new path for himself here, so leave him alone."

The man — Roy — frowned, then smiled. "She's right," he said. "You're too soft. You'll get hurt with an attitude like that."

Rukia silently thanked the man for saying what she'd wanted to so many times.

Orihime pretended not to hear him, and told him her name and how to find her. "If you ever want to talk," she said cheerfully. "Don't be a stranger!"

It was hopeless to try and change her, and Rukia wasn't sure she wanted to. People like Orihime were necessary in the world, to soothe the wounds of the soul at the expense of her own happiness. She was a sacrifice for the happiness of those around her, and she was all right with that. Rukia wasn't stupid enough to try and change her nature. She just wanted to protect her, that was all.

Roy seemed to grasp the same thing, for the next moment he smiled and said "I won't. Take care," and walked away.

There would be hundreds more like him in Orihime's future, and she would love every single one of them because that was who she was.

That was the girl Rukia had vowed to keep safe, because angels were scarce enough as it was. It wouldn't do to lose another.

Orihime's smile needed to be immortal, for the sake of the Roys of the world.

Rukia would make sure of it.

**X**

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by: shalinilahiri  
> Prompt: sweet


End file.
